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Sunday Modern Era puzzles with the most "open" grids
Grids that have more open white space are typically harder to solve and to construct.
The "open square count" here is the number of white squares that do not touch a block (black square), even diagonally.
Top constructors and grids:
| D | A | N | I | E | L | C | R | A | I | G | T | A | K | E | S | H | A | P | E | |
| U | S | E | D | V | E | H | I | C | L | E | U | N | E | N | T | E | R | E | D | |
| C | O | L | L | E | G | E | P | R | E | P | T | I | E | D | Y | E | I | N | G | |
| A | F | L | Y | E | L | I | S | H | A | S | P | I | L | L | A | N | E | |||
| I | R | K | E | D | A | M | A | T | I | V | E | |||||||||
| J | E | A | L | O | U | S | Y | P | R | I | S | O | N | E | S | C | A | P | E | |
| O | U | T | I | N | G | C | A | D | G | I | N | G | O | D | O | R | ||||
| A | B | A | C | I | S | H | O | R | T | O | F | E | T | C | H | I | N | |||
| D | I | R | E | C | T | L | I | N | E | S | I | L | I | C | O | N | E | |||
| S | E | I | B | R | A | N | D | N | A | M | E | P | R | O | D | U | C | T | S | |
| T | O | O | K | T | O | T | H | E | S | L | O | P | E | S | ||||||
| S | E | V | E | N | Y | E | A | R | S | I | N | T | I | B | E | T | V | A | T | |
| W | E | I | R | D | E | S | T | D | E | C | O | R | A | T | I | V | E | |||
| A | R | N | E | S | S | D | E | S | E | R | E | T | B | E | L | I | E | |||
| R | I | G | S | C | O | A | L | E | R | S | S | L | A | L | O | M | ||||
| M | E | T | A | A | N | A | L | Y | S | E | S | S | T | H | E | L | E | N | S | |
| M | I | M | E | S | I | S | C | E | R | E | S | |||||||||
| S | A | D | F | A | C | E | S | E | T | A | L | I | I | F | L | A | P | |||
| A | L | E | R | T | E | D | T | O | A | M | A | Z | O | N | P | R | I | M | E | |
| A | T | L | E | I | S | U | R | E | R | A | R | E | D | I | S | E | A | S | E | |
| R | O | A | D | S | T | E | A | D | S | H | O | R | E | P | A | T | R | O | L |
| B | O | B | S | F | O | R | A | P | P | L | E | S | M | I | D | R | I | F | F | |
| A | R | E | W | E | D | O | N | E | H | E | R | E | O | C | E | A | N | I | A | |
| W | I | R | E | R | E | C | O | R | D | E | R | S | T | O | E | T | A | G | S | |
| L | O | R | E | N | K | I | S | S | O | S | M | O | N | D | S | E | T | |||
| S | N | A | P | B | O | N | E | B | R | I | A | R | S | H | E | A | D | |||
| P | O | U | T | B | E | F | O | G | S | F | A | N | T | A | ||||||
| D | E | S | C | E | N | T | L | E | A | R | N | S | D | O | R | S | E | Y | ||
| I | N | T | O | T | O | H | A | L | V | E | S | P | O | R | T | E | R | S | ||
| T | R | A | P | S | B | O | W | T | I | E | M | E | M | E | ||||||
| K | A | T | I | E | H | O | L | M | E | S | P | A | R | A | S | A | I | L | ||
| O | P | E | N | M | I | N | D | E | D | B | A | R | M | I | T | Z | V | A | H | |
| T | D | G | A | R | D | E | N | M | A | S | K | I | N | G | T | A | P | E | ||
| T | E | E | M | C | O | R | S | E | T | R | E | N | T | S | ||||||
| R | I | C | H | A | R | D | S | O | R | B | E | T | G | E | C | K | O | S | ||
| A | M | O | U | R | S | F | O | U | L | E | D | G | O | E | S | A | P | E | ||
| D | I | R | T | Y | A | L | F | R | E | D | B | R | A | N | ||||||
| I | N | N | S | P | R | E | T | T | Y | M | O | O | T | S | C | A | B | |||
| O | L | E | S | E | N | A | T | E | V | A | T | S | C | L | O | S | E | |||
| C | O | L | G | A | T | E | A | S | B | I | G | A | S | A | H | O | U | S | E | |
| A | V | I | A | T | E | S | C | A | Y | E | N | N | E | P | E | P | P | E | R | |
| R | E | A | P | E | R | S | O | N | E | W | A | Y | S | T | R | E | E | T | S |
| W | H | A | T | E | L | S | E | I | S | N | E | W | C | L | O | N | I | N | G | |
| H | E | L | E | N | A | M | O | N | T | A | N | A | A | I | R | A | S | I | A | |
| E | S | T | R | O | G | E | N | P | A | T | C | H | D | R | A | G | O | N | S | |
| T | S | A | R | S | L | I | E | N | L | L | B | E | A | N | G | E | T | |||
| S | E | R | A | P | L | A | N | R | O | B | O | T | S | D | O | H | A | |||
| T | E | E | N | M | A | S | E | R | S | T | E | N | O | N | ||||||
| O | S | W | A | L | D | S | A | T | I | R | E | P | R | T | A | L | K | |||
| D | O | L | I | K | E | I | N | N | I | N | G | M | E | A | S | L | E | S | ||
| O | L | I | N | E | T | R | Y | I | N | G | J | U | A | N | ||||||
| W | A | C | K | A | D | O | O | D | L | E | H | E | L | L | S | C | A | P | E | |
| S | L | E | E | P | A | P | N | E | A | F | O | R | C | E | F | I | E | L | D | |
| E | A | R | D | O | C | T | O | R | F | I | R | S | T | D | E | G | R | E | E | |
| W | H | E | N | T | O | N | N | E | S | R | A | I | N | N | ||||||
| R | A | M | A | D | A | N | C | R | I | K | E | Y | A | R | R | E | T | S | ||
| E | L | I | T | E | S | M | A | U | L | E | D | C | L | A | S | S | Y | |||
| D | O | N | O | R | T | E | R | M | E | D | T | A | I | L | ||||||
| C | O | I | N | S | O | G | L | A | D | J | I | L | T | S | I | V | A | |||
| E | G | G | B | E | T | S | O | N | H | U | L | U | H | U | R | O | N | |||
| D | O | O | R | O | N | E | R | E | M | I | N | D | M | E | A | G | A | I | N | |
| A | B | L | E | I | S | M | F | R | O | N | T | E | N | T | R | A | N | C | E | |
| R | I | F | F | L | E | S | F | A | N | T | A | S | Y | S | E | R | I | E | S |
*** See the rest of the grids or view the view the wide open Daily grids. ***
Click a date below to see the full puzzle. Only 21 by 21 puzzles are considered here.
Here are the top 30:
| Rank | Date | Open Squares | Author | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | November 24, 2019 | 189 | Frank Longo | OPEN WIDE! |
| 2. | November 4, 2018 | 186 | Patrick Berry | UNTHEMED |
| December 3, 2023 | 186 | Tracy Bennett | Freestyling | |
| 4. | May 11, 2025 | 179 | Brendan Emmett Quigley | Power Grid |
| 5. | May 17, 2020 | 177 | Byron Walden | WIDE-OPEN SPACES |
| 6. | June 6, 2021 | 174 | Robyn Weintraub | OLIO |
| 7. | December 18, 2022 | 173 | Ryan McCarty | Some Theme's Missing |
| 8. | January 6, 2002 | 168 | Frank A. Longo | MAMMALS WITH CHARACTER |
| 9. | June 16, 2019 | 166 | Joel Fagliano | NOT IN SO MANY WORDS |
| 10. | July 11, 2004 | 164 | Randolph Ross | YOU SEE NOW? |
| November 13, 2022 | 164 | Samuel A. Donaldson | Collision Courses | |
| 12. | December 22, 2024 | 162 | Adrian Johnson | Go With the Flow |
| 13. | November 7, 2021 | 160 | Sid Sivakumar | THIS AND THAT |
| 14. | March 26, 2000 | 158 | Manny Nosowsky | STARTING COSTS |
| March 4, 2018 | 158 | Byron Walden | CHARACTER BUILDING | |
| June 11, 2023 | 158 | Sam Ezersky | Words, Words, Words: A Themeless | |
| 17. | April 27, 1997 | 157 | Matt Gaffney | Off the Rack |
| November 10, 2013 | 157 | Alan Olschwang | BYE-LINES | |
| 19. | September 4, 2011 | 154 | Dana Delany and Matt Ginsberg | THAT'S DISGUSTING! |
| January 20, 2013 | 154 | Yaakov Bendavid | ALL-INSPIRING | |
| 21. | November 15, 2015 | 153 | Alan Arbesfeld | HAVING ASPIRATIONS |
| September 16, 2018 | 153 | Joel Fagliano | "UH, WHAT?" | |
| 23. | January 5, 1997 | 152 | W. R. Williams | Theme: Water, Water Everywhere |
| August 2, 2020 | 152 | David Levinson Wilk | PUZZLIN' | |
| April 3, 2022 | 152 | Byron Walden | SOFT OPTIONS | |
| 26. | June 7, 2020 | 151 | Andy Kravis | SURPLUS STORE |
| 27. | October 16, 1994 | 150 | Raymond Hamel | Out Of Their Element |
| March 22, 1998 | 150 | Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon | Anagrammatic Disclosures | |
| August 18, 2013 | 150 | Elizabeth C. Gorski | EDGINESS | |
| July 15, 2018 | 150 | Sam Ezersky and Byron Walden | COMPLIMENTARY |